Software Metrics & Metrics Counsel
The first half-century of software engineering will likely be remembered
best for its stubborn (and almost entirely successful) resistance
to standard engineering disciplines. The success of the resistance
to discipline can be observed in the ubiquity of cost overruns,
cancelled projects, and contract litigation that continue to plague
the software industry. Software engineering organizations have routinely
avoided the kind of constructive introspection and review that all
other engineering fields accept as routine, if not mandatory. This
is particularly so when it comes to measurement and metrics.
Consider that other engineering fields have long been associated
with finely calibrated standards and practices evolved through painstakingly
precise measurement and re-measurement. Yet, when it comes to software
development and maintenance, most IT managers have actively avoided
being observed, measured, compared, and given real metrics and real
industry benchmarks with which to manage, understand, and improve.
SPR helps clients break the cycle of denial and ignorance. With
time proven tools and techniques, we assist our clients in:
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Defining and communicating
a metrics vision in the context of overall institutional goals;
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Defining compatible
and consistent processes to be used in managing a metrics program;
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Identifying the best
practices associated with successful software organization behavior
and propagating those practices where they do not exist; and |
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Addressing and relieving
the anxiety that often accompanies measurement programs, including
the common fear that software metrics will be used to assess
individual performance. |
Whether a client is progressing through the Software Engineering
Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM®) or seeking
more efficient performance from software suppliers, SPR’s goal
is to provide software managers with a set of useful, tangible data
points for sizing, estimating, managing and controlling software
projects with rigor and precision.
For more information contact SPR
by sending a note to support@spr.com.
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